VOA慢速英语: 来和普通的乔与简喝一杯咖啡吧！

A Cup of Joe With Average Joes and Plain Janes

来和普通的乔与简喝杯咖啡

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目。

A person’s name is very important. Some names also have special meanings in popular American expressions. To better understand what I mean, sit back and listen. You might even want to get a cup of Joe -- I mean, a cup of coffee.

一个人的名字是非常重要的，在流行的常用美语表达中，一些名字也有其特殊意义。为了你能更好的理解我的意思，请坐下来，听一听，你可能还想“a cup of Joe”，我是指“来一杯咖啡”。

One day, an Average Joe was walking down the street. An Average Joe is a common person -- either male or female. This Average Joe was lost. He did not know Jack about where he was going. By this, I mean he did not know anything about where to find things in the city.

有一天，有一个人(an Average Joe)正走在大街上。这里的“An Average Joe”是指一个普通人，男女都适用。这个人迷路了，他不知道(did not know Jack)该怎么走了。这里“did not know Jack”是指他对于怎样在这个城市里找一些地方一无所知。

So Average Joe asked John Q. Public for directions to the nearest bank. John Q. Public is also a common person -- male or female.

所以，这个人向另一个人(John Q. Public)询问怎样去最近的银行，John Q. Public也是指一个普通人，也是男女都通用。

“Jeez Louise,” said John Q. Public -- this is an expression of surprise -- “Jeez Louise, don’t you know that all banks are closed today? It is Saturday.”

那一个人(John Q. Public)说“Jeez Louise(啊?)”。这个短语是用来表达惊讶的。“啊?你不知道今天所有的银行都关门了吗?今天是周六啊!”

“For Pete’s sake,” said Average Joe -- this is also an expression used to show a feeling like surprise or disappointment.

这个人(average Joe)说：“For Pete's sake,(什么?!)”，这也是一个用来表达惊讶或失望的短语。

“For Pete’s sake. I do not believe you,” said Average Joe. He was being a doubting Thomas -- someone who does not believe anything he is told.

这个人(average Joe)说：“啊?!我不相信。”这个人(average Joe)是一个怀疑心很重的人(doubting Thomas)，即他不相信别人告诉他的任何话。

At that moment, Joe Blow was walking down the street with a woman. "Joe Blow" is also an expression for a common man. Now this Joe Blow was not walking next to a plain Jane. A plain Jane is a woman who is neither ugly nor pretty -- she is simply plain. No, the woman with Joe Blow was a real Sheila -- a beautiful woman.

就在那时，一位男士(Joe Blow)和一个女人一起从街上走过。“Joe Blow” 是用来指普通男性的。此时的这位男士(Joe Blow)并不是和一位相貌平平的普通女士(plain Jane)一起走过。“A plain Jane”是指一位不丑也不漂亮的的长相普通的女性。而和这位男士(Joe Blow)一起走过的女性，是一位真正的美女(Sheila)，这里的Sheila是指美女的意思。

Average Joe asked the woman if all banks were closed on Saturday. “No way, Jose,” she answered -- this is a way of saying “no” -- “No way, Jose. Many banks are open on Saturdays.”

这个人(Average Joe)问这位美女，是不是周六所有的银行都关门了。她回答说：“不是(No way, Jose)。”No way, Jose是一种表达“不是的”意思的说法。“不是的，很多银行在周六都是会开门的。”

Average Joe did not know either of these two people from Adam -- that is, he did not know them at all. But he followed their directions to the nearest bank.

这个人(Average Joe)完全不认识这两个人(did not know either of these two people from Adam)。但是他按照他们所指的方向来到了最近的银行。

When he arrived, he walked to the desk of the chief bank employee. Now this man was a true Jack of all trades -- he knew how to do everything.

当他到了银行后，他就走到大堂经理的办公桌前。面前的这个人是一个真正的万事通(Jack of all trades)，他知道所有的事情。

“I am here to withdraw some money so I can pay my taxes to Uncle Sam,” said average Joe. "Uncle Sam" represents the United States government. The banker produced some papers and told Average Joe to sign his John Hancock at the bottom. A "John Hancock" is a person’s signed name -- a signature. Historically, John Hancock was one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. Hancock had a beautiful signature and signed his name larger than all the others.

“我想取一些现金，这样我才能够给美国政府(Uncle Sam)交税。”这里的“Uncle Sam”就是美国政府的意思。银行职员打印了一些文件，让这个人(Average Joe)在文件底部签上他的名字(John Hancock)。这里的“John Hancock”是指一个人的签名。历史上的John Hancock是美国独立宣言的签署人之一。Hancock的签名非常漂亮，而且其签名比其他人签的都大。

As Average Joe left the bank he began to sing. But sadly, Average Joe was not a good singer. He was a Johnny One Note -- he could only sing one note.

当这个人(Average Joe)离开银行时，就开始唱歌，他唱的并不好，他是五音不全的人(Johnny One Note)。这里“Johnny One Note”是指五音不全的人。